Wind will not be able to supply base load for a very long time, if ever. One key element to the success of wind power will be the ability to store energy produced by wind turbines to store excess energy during peak winds and supply the difference in low winds.
Nuclear will supply Ontario's base energy needs for the forseeable future.
Nonetheless, wind power should continue to be pursued and grown to become an important part of Ontario's overall energy mix.
What's a very long time? It will get even longer if the govt doesn't get things going on this file. It's always about storing wind energy. With high winds thousands of feet up, it is ALWAYS windy. The jetstream has constant winds at speeds from 100k to 400k an hour. There, the base load issue is solved.
No more wasteful nuke plants. No more coal burning plants. The future is here.
Airborne wind turbine
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Airborne wind generator
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An
airborne wind turbine is a design concept for a
wind turbine that is supported in the air without a tower.
[1] When the generator is on the ground,[
[2]] then the tethered aircraft need not carry the generator mass or have a conductive tether. When the generator is aloft, then a conductive tether would be used to transmit energy to the ground. Airborne systems would have the advantage of tapping an almost constant wind, without requirements for
slip rings or
yaw mechanism, and without the expense of tower construction.
Kites and 'helicopters' come down when there is insufficient wind;
kytoons and
blimps resolve the matter. Also, bad weather such as
lightning or
thunderstorms, could temporarily suspend use of the machines, probably requiring them to be brought back down to the ground and covered. Some schemes require a long power cable and, if the turbine is high enough, an aircraft exclusion zone. When the generator is ground-based, the tether need not be conductive. As of 2008, no commercial airborne wind turbines are in regular operation.
[3]